Building block



Sept. 5, 1939. c. B. RoBBlNs BUILDING BLOCK Filed Nov. 8, 1958 A TTORNEYPatented Sept. 5, 1939 PATENT ori-ICE 2.172,05?,l BUILDING BLOCK CarlfB.Robbins, Stanford University, Calif., assignor to Calaveras CementCompany, a corporation of California Application November 8, 1938,Serial No. 239,516

Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in concrete building blocks.

The conventional concrete building blocks now commonly used in thefabrication of' wall struc- 5 tures are designed. primarily to provideleft-inplace forms adaptedv to hold vertical columns. of

thermal insulating material. Wall structures made with concrete buildingblocks of this particular type have several disadvantages, the mostobjectionable of which is that their construction or design doesnotprovide for adequate internal reenforcing. It is well known that a massof concrete cast as a, unitary structure is considerably stronger thanvan equal mass made up of a number of pre-cast units, and since it is notpossible with theY concrete' building blocks now commonly usedY toconstruct a wallhaving a unitary and integrally formedv concretestructure throughout, the load-bearing properties of such a wall are notadequate to meet certain building requirements.

Overcoming, these disadvantages, I have provided an improved buildingblock of novel shape and construction having internal spaces for hold-25" ing thermal insulating material as well as concrete and steel'reenforeements.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improvedrectangular-shaped building block having an opentop and= an open bottomand provided internally with cells or spaces for holding a section, ofthermal insulating material.

Another' object of my invention is to provide an improved building blockhaving a construction, which in associationA with other similar blocksforming a wall structure, provides reenforcing means adapted to' both`reenforce the Wall and at the same time seal the horizontal and Verticalvjoints ordinarily located between the blocks.

40 Other and further objects of my invention will be pointed outhereinafter, indicated in the appended claims, or will be obvious to oneskilled in the art upon an understanding of thepresentdisclosure. Forthe purpose of this application I have elected to show herein certain-forms and details of building blocks and wall vstructuresrepresentative of my invention; it is to be understood, however, thatthe embodiments of my invention herein shown and described are forpurposes of illustration only, and that therefore they are not to beregarded as exhaustive of the variations of the invention, nor are theyto be given interpretations such as might have the effect of limitingthe claims,` short of the true and most comprehensive.. scope of theinvention in the art.

In the accompanying` drawing:

Fig. lis a. Perspective view. of a building block embodying myinvention;

Fig. 2 is a Vperspective view of a partly fabri- 5 cated wallv made froma number of blocks illustrated in Fig. 1.;

Fig.y 3 is a side elevation of a wall constructed in accordance with myinvention, showing a porion thereof broken away and in vertical sec- 10ion;

Fig. 4 is a sectional View. taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is asectional view taken onthe line 5-5 of Fig. 4. 15

Referring particularly to- Figs. l to 5 inclusive, the. numeralldesignates a concrete building block of general, rectangular shape, openat its top and.bottom,rand having its two longest sides 2 and 3-separatedl one from another by a lon- 20 'gitudinally disposed, parallelpartition 4. The partition divides theinterior of the block into twocells' or spaces 5 Vand 6 which are approximately of thel same width,but not necessarily so. The' opposite ends of the cell 5 are enclosed 25by end members 1 and 8 while the opposite ends of the cell 6 areenclosed by end members 9 and Ill. The end members1 l, 8, 9 and Illy arepreferably disposed in parallel relation to one another. The combinedlengths of the end spaces 30" Il and l2Y and the cell lv aresubstantially the same as that of the cell 5. When` two of the blocksare positioned end to end there is provided behind the contiguousportions of the ends l and 8 an enclosed space (made'up of the end space35v ll of one block and the end space l2 of the other), which is adaptedto contain a body of concretev that seals the vertical joint betweentheV two blocks. So as to provide for the integral horizontal connectionof the bodies of cement 40 normally located in the end4 Spaces ll and I2with the body of cement filling the cell 6, the end members 9 and I0 areeach, at their top and bottom edges, curved inwardly toward each otheras at 9 and l0 respectively. y

Infabriating a wall structure in accordance withv my invention,V theblocks are arranged in overlapping `formation one 'above the 'other withthe extreme ends of one block positioned midway between the ends of ablock located directly 50 beneath it, as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3.The dimensions of the cells 6 of the blocks being such that their widthsare considerably less than their lengths, enables certain of the steelrods I3a to assume diagonal or slanting positions, thereby 55 providinga reenforcing structure which possesses improved load-carrying'properties. To further provide a thoroughly reenforced structure, Steelrods I3 are positioned in horizontal positions resting upon the curvedend members 9. and I0, as shown in Fig. 2. After the rods I3 and I 3aare placed as aforesaid, the interconnected cells and spaces 6, II, andI2 throughout the height, length and breadth of the wall are filled withconcrete 0r other suitablereenforcing material. When the concrete hashardened in the usual manner, a unitary and integrally connectedconcrete structure by horizontal steel rods I3 and by vertical anddiagonal steel rods I3a is provided throughout the length, breadth andheight of the wall. The-- interconnected spaces or cells 5 of the blocksare next filled with a suitable thermal insulating material I5.

Since the concrete structure I 4 is connected inV every directionthroughout the length, breadth and height of the wall, therebyadequately reenforcing the latter, the sides, ends and partition of theblocks may be of considerably less thickness than is the case withconcrete building blocks of the kind now commonly used. After thefwallhas been completed the vertical Vas well as the horizontal jointsbetween the blocks'are eectively sealed by the body` of concretematerial I4 which fills the connected spaces II and I2 and the cells 6.

VThe building blocks constituting the present invention may be made fromeither concrete or other suitable material.V 1

Having described my invention, what I claim 1. A substantiallyrectangular building block, open at its top and bottom and having alongitudinal partition disposed'in parallel relation to the longestsides of the block, the said partition dividing the interior of theblock into two longitudinal cells, each of said cells being enclosed byend members, and the 'end members of one of the cells each beingdisposed inwardly at its upper and lower edges to permit a quantity ofplastic material located in the said last mentioned cell to extend overits said end members and become integrally connected to a partY of saidplastic material located in areas adjacent the ends of said lastmentioned cell.

2. A substantially rectangular building block, open at its top andbottom and having a longitudinal partition disposed in parallel relationto the longest sides of the block, the said partition dividing theinterior of the block into two longitudinal cells, the said cells eachbeing enclosed by end members, and the end members of one cell eachbeing cut away at at least one of its free edges, wherebyY a space isprovided atrpoints where the said end members are cut away for thepositioning of a connecting portion of a body of plastic materiallocated in the last mentioned cell and in areas adjoining theends of thelatter.

3. A substantially rectangular buildingfblock, open at its top andbottom and having la longitudinal partition disposed lin parallelVrelation to the longest sides ofthe block, the said partition dividingtheinterior of the block intotwo longi- I4 reenforced Y tudinal cells,the said block having its opposite ends so deformed as to make one cellshorter than the other cell, the end walls of the shorter of the twocells being disposed inwardly from' the end walls of the other cell, andthe end walls of the shorter cell being cut away at at least one of itsfree edges to provide a space for the positioning of a connectingportion of a body of plastic'material normally located in the shorter ofthe two cells and in areas adjoining the ends of the latter.

A substantially rectangular building block openV at its top and bottomand having a longitudinal partition disposed in parallel relation to thelongest sides of the block, the said partition dividing the interior ofthe block into two longitudinal cells, the said block having itsopposite ends disposed so that the ends of one cell are positionedinwardly from the ends of the other cell,

whereby cells of dilerent lengths are provided, and whereby end spacesare provided adjacent the opposite ends of the shorter of the two cells,the opposite ends of the shorter cell being each cut away at its top andbottom edges to provide spaces for the positioning of a connectingportion of a body of plastic material normally located in the saidshorter cell and in the spaces adjoining the latters ends.

f 5. In a masonry wall structure, a plurality of` substantiallyrectangular buli-ding blocks, each open at its top and bottom and eachbeing divided interiorly into two longitudinally disposed cells by alongitudinal partition disposed in substantially parallel relation tothe long sides of the block, the said blocks being arranged inhorizontal rows with one adjacent row superimposed upon another row andthe blocks of adjacent rows arranged in overlapping positions so thatthe opposite ends of one block are centrally positioned with respect tothe two adjacent blocks supporting it, the said blocks of each row beingarranged with a portion of their ends contiguous to one another, andeach of the blocks having their contiguous ends of such an inwardlydisposedirregular shape that the ends of one cell are poistionedinwardly from the ends of the other cell, whereby cells of differentlengths are provided, and whereby end spaces are provided adjacent theopposite ends of the shorter of the two cells, the opposite ends of theshorter cell beingV each cut away at at least its top or bottom edge toprovide a space for the positioning of a connecting portion of avbody ofconcrete material normallyrlocated in the said shorter cell and in theend spaces adjacent the latters ends, the said end spaces of adjacentblocks being so disposed that when lled with said body of concretematerial the vertical joints of the contiguous blocks are sealed, thesaid blocks when so arranged in horizontal superimposed rows providingtwo vertical material-holding forms each comprising a series ofinterconnected cells, the saidbody of concrete material being located inthe particular form having the said end spaces and the shorter cells,and a body of insulating material located in the other form.`

CARL B. ROBBINS

